Presentation of the laboratory

In 1991, Jean Bellissard moved to Toulouse (from CPT in Marseille) along with a few freshly
CNRS recruits to found a small Groupe de Physique Théorique (GPT) with the
support of CNRS and Université Paul Sabatier (UPS ; Université de Toulouse III). This
group was then hosted by the Laboratoire de Physique Quantique (now LCPQ). Roughly at the
same time, the Institut de Recherche sur les
Systèmes Atomiques et Moléculaires Complexes – IRSAMC was created, regrouping three laboratories including LCPQ. IRSAMC
was soon recognized by CNRS and UPS as the Fédération de Recherche de Physique et
Chimie Fondamentales (FR 2568), although the institute kept its IRSAMC name for all practical
purposes.

Meanwhile, the GPT eventually grew and obtained undeniable scientific recognition and visibility
to be finally recognized in 2003 as an Unité Mixte de Recherche of CNRS
and UPS (UMR5152). Didier Poilblanc was the first director of LPT between 2003 and 2006, and was
succeeded by Clément Sire for the 2007-2015 period, and Bertrand Georgeot, since 2016.

The LPT today

Le LPT currently hosts 13 CNRS researchers and 10 university employees at the UPS, 2 CNRS technicians, and each year, typically 5-8 postdocs and 10-16 PhD students, not to mention master students, and many foreign visitors. Since 2007, 4 UPS professors at LPT were awarded a fellowship of the Institut Universitaire de France.

Since 2007, LPT is funded by many contracts with Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), the European Union, and several other punctual grants (CNRS, UPS, Région Midi-Pyrénées...), in addition to the annual CNRS and UPS funding.

Multidisciplinarity is the vital and inspiring motor of
the scientific activity of LPT since its foundation. LPT’s scientific activity
is indeed evaluated by four different CNRS Sections of the Comité
National de la Recherche Scientifique (02 – main Section, 03, 04, 05).

Scientifique production of LPT

During the period 06/2009-06/2014, LPT researchers have published around 420 articles in peer-reviewed international journals (34 Physical Review Letters), have contributed to more than 300 conferences, and have edited 3 softwares (including one commercial software). They have ongoing collaborations (i.e. share publications) with more than 300 scientists working in more than 200 institutions in 25 countries, including 9 laboratories on the Toulouse campus :
CRCA, IMT, IPBS, LCAR, LCPQ, LMGM, LAAS, LNCMI, OMP.